1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to games of chance and, more particularly, to methods and systems for conducting lottery-type games that allow players to use their mental skills to attempt to strategically select lottery numbers that increase the probability of obtaining a favorable outcome.
2. State of the Art
Lottery games have been available for hundreds of years, if not longer. In a conventional lottery game, players are allowed to select potentially winning numbers from a pool of available numbers. The winning number, or numbers, is determined on the basis of a random drawing from the pool of available numbers. The player(s), if any, whose selected number(s) exactly matches the randomly drawn winning number(s) wins the game and the award/jackpot associated therewith. This standard model for lottery games suffers from the following disadvantages: (1) players can become discouraged from playing such lottery games by the fact that drawings often result in no win, and (2) it is impossible for the operator of the lottery game to predict the frequency of the occurrence of a win.
The basic lottery game concept has remained essentially unchanged over the centuries. Some embellishments have, however, been made. These embellishments include, for example, allowing a player to participate in a series of lotteries to parlay any winnings into successive lottery draws. However, none of these embellishments has altered the fundamental nature of the lottery as being unaffected by player skill. Because no skill is involved in lottery games, player interest often wanes and is only revived momentarily by the potential for winning massive jackpots. Many players become discouraged from playing lottery games entirely because the vast majority of lottery players win nothing, so even the enticement of a large jackpot is of limited appeal.
In recent years, casino gaming and lottery games have experienced a tremendous amount of growth. As the number of casinos and other gaming outlets has increased, competition to attract customers similarly has become more intense. Consequently, not only has there been a need for gaming operators to attract new customers, but the need to retain old customers has become more compelling. Customer retention becomes increasingly difficult as games, even ones that have been successful at one time, become well played and, thus, provide diminishing entertainment value for players. As a result, there is a continuing need for participants in the gaming industry to develop new games that are exciting and entertaining. Games that retain their excitement and entertainment value, even after being played many times, are particularly sought after.
The current generation of casino gaming machines typically involves the generation of a random or quasi-random outcome, which is matched against preselected potential winning combinations to determine whether a win has occurred. These games are represented by conventional gaming machines, also known as xe2x80x9cslotxe2x80x9d machines.
Many new games have been developed in recent years that attempt to capitalize on the tremendous growth of the gaming industry. Most of these games, however, are variations on conventional casino gaming machines, which involve minimal player participation in the outcome of the gaming event. Hence, these new games do little to improve the entertainment value of the gaming experience over the prior art.
A number of different approaches have been pursued in attempts to increase player interest in conventional gaming machines. Among these approaches has been a proliferation of games that add a bonus game to a base or primary game of a gaming machine. However, even with a bonus game, the player only provides some minimal physical input (such as pushing a button, pulling a lever, or touching a touch screen) to start the gaming machine""s random determination of the bonus game outcome. Efforts to increase player interest have also involved theming games to popular television shows, movies, and celebrities to attract customers.
Nevertheless, bonus games and theme enhancements still rely upon conventional gaming machines and determine a player""s game outcome completely independent of player action. Once the novelty of one of these gaming machines incorporating a bonus game or theme is exhausted, its popularity and success may end prematurely, and the resulting diminution of patronage forces such gaming machines off the casino floor at significant cost to the casino and, in many instances, the provider of the gaming machine.
Lottery gaming has become very popular with a large segment of the populations of the various jurisdictions in which it is offered. Exemplary prior art lottery-type games are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,017,032, 6,080,062, and 6,168,521, the disclosures of each of which patents are incorporated herein by reference. One advantage of lottery-type games is that they are, in many cases, permissible in jurisdictions in which casino-style gaming is prohibited. Therefore, lottery-type games represent a significant opportunity for the gaming industry, and gaming machine providers in particular, to realize a broader market base.
Some lottery games involve the purchase of a ticket at, for example, a retail outlet, such as a convenience store, the ticket providing a potential for a winning result in a periodic drawing. Other lottery games provide so-called xe2x80x9cinstantxe2x80x9d wins for the purchaser, wherein the result of the game is made known to the player immediately upon purchasing his ticket.
One important drawback associated with conventional lottery-type games is that it is impossible to predict with certainty whether any particular drawing will result in a player winning the game. For example, it is often the case that the number selected at random as the winning number has not been selected by any player. There is no winner in such a scenario, although the uncollected jackpot customarily is folded into the jackpot for the next game. This can cause a significant degree of player antipathy for, or at least disinterest in, the game because the player does not sense any denouement in the game when no one wins. Thus, it would be advantageous from the perspective of player entertainment and satisfaction to provide a lottery-type game in which someone wins at every single drawing. It would also be advantageous from the perspective of gaming operators to provide such a lottery-type game because such would enable the gaming operators to better market the games and have a more predictable economic model of the game.
To revive and maintain player interest in lottery games, a new type of lottery game is needed. As is set forth more fully hereinafter, the present invention provides such a new type of lottery game, which allows players to use their mental skills to strategically and tactically select lottery numbers that have the greatest probability of producing a favorable outcome.
According to an aspect of the invention, a gaming method includes determining that a first player has made a wager, determining that a first player has selected one of the game elements from the set of game elements, the one of the game elements known to the first player at the time the one of the game elements is selected, determining that a second player has made a wager, and determining that a second player has selected one of the game elements from the set of game elements, the one of the game elements known to the second player at the time the one of the game elements is selected. The gaming method also includes selecting a winning game element from the set of game elements, determining a game outcome according to the closeness of the one of the game elements selected by the first player and the one of the game elements selected by the second player to the winning game element, and determining a payout according the game outcome.
According to another aspect of the invention, a gaming method includes determining that each of a plurality of players has made a wager, determining that each of the plurality of players has selected at least one number from a set of numbers, the at least one number known at the time the at least one number is selected, selecting at least one winning number from the set of numbers, determining a game outcome according to the closeness of the at least one number selected by each of the plurality of players to the at least one winning number, and determining a payout according the game outcome.